ISSN: 0022-1198
CODEN: JFSCA
Published Online: 1 April 1976
Page Count: 6

An Experimental Study of Powder Tattooing of the Skin
Petty, CS
Medical Examiner, Chief Medical Examiner, and Chief, Physical Evidence Section, Tex.

Stone, IC
Medical Examiner, Chief Medical Examiner, and Chief, Physical Evidence Section, Tex.

DiMaio, VJM
Medical Examiner, Chief Medical Examiner, and Chief, Physical Evidence Section, Tex.

(Received 30 June 1975; accepted 25 August 1975)

Abstract

Determination of the distance from muzzle to victim from the appearance of a gunshot wound in the skin is often of great importance. Such information may be necessary to confirm or disprove an account of the circumstances surrounding a death due to firearms. Contact wounds generally can be recognized by the presence of soot and powder in and around the wound as well as searing of the skin from the flame. When the contact wound overlays bone, tearing of the skin or muzzle imprints may be present. Intermediate range gunshot wounds are characterized by powder tattooing (stippling) of the skin around the wound of entrance. Soot may or may not be present. While soot can usually be wiped away, powder tattooing cannot. When the muzzle-to-target distance increases so that powder tattooing no longer occurs, the gunshot wound is called a distant wound and range determinations can no longer be made.

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Paper ID: JFS10505J
DOI: 10.1520/JFS10505J
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